Every day, fewer government officials seem to pride themselves on understanding and abiding by the law. I never realized how difficult it was to have a base understanding of your job, especially one that can change the average person’s life. So, it didn’t necessarily surprise me to see that an Arizona woman was arrested mid-hearing for simply questioning an official well within her rights. Unfortunately, the official didn’t quite understand the law that he was enforcing, causing the woman to be arrested simply because he didn’t agree with her.
In the specific video, an Arizona woman can be seen standing at a podium, directly speaking to various authoritative officials. As the woman speaks, she is interrupted by the city attorney and accused of attacking him personally because he did not like that she asked about his compensation. It’s a widely known fact that various government officials receive paydays that outweigh the work being done while simultaneously taking from goods and services that could be used by the average person.
The woman continues to speak, stating that, as written within the law, there are various questions and words she can ask and say that would have no criminal repercussions. Unfortunately, the city attorney has no recollection of the laws that he had studied years ago, and instead of looking into it, he has the woman arrested.
Considering that there were no grounds for her arrest, various commenters on the video voiced their excitement about a potential lawsuit in the woman’s favor. One commenter said, “she just got rich. Sue them into bankruptcy.”
Typically, when situations like this arise, officials have two possible responses. If the story gains more attention than expected, they will issue a brief and insincere apology to cover their own interests. On the other hand, if the story attracts little attention, the woman involved may remain in custody or face an exorbitant bail amount that is essentially unattainable, leading to her being overlooked among the many individuals wronged by our government.
Fortunately, a commenter helped fill in the blanks and was able to name the woman as Rebekah Massie. Since this video’s virality, the judge has thrown out her criminal charge. However, she is still pursuing them in federal court, and the case is still ongoing.
